In Brotherhood
by mOoNeChO666
Summary: (Sequel to "My Big Brother") Only 3 weeks after Mario's funeral, and with Kammy out to kill - Waluigi and Luigi find themselves in the same situation, and begin together - to weave a tangled web of revenge.
1. Another Loss

A sequel to my first Mario fanfic "My Big Brother" set on the third week after the burial ceremony, and just cos I feel like typing this up – I got the idea for this whilst playing Double Dash – My characters where Waluigi and Daisy, and Wario and Luigi sped by us, cheated, and knocked us off the track. Of course – this fic has nothing to do with racing, so I'm not actually sure how this came up – but it did, so just read it – enjoy it – and REVIEW!!! See the last part in capitals? It means take the time to tell me what you thought – cos I get very few reviews from the wonderful people who take the time to read my fanfics...

Anyways – I'm blabbering now, so let's get on with it... Oh yeah – you will recognize some characters from some REALLY old games here...

(By the way – I'm not writing the Italian accents – and I won't start – so don't ask me to. Use a little imagination people! And the songs mentioned in this fic – download them. They are SO awesome!)

* * *

The daring duo raced through the explosions, their maniacal laughter ringing out loud and clear as the angered screams and cries of Wario's old nemesis, Captain Syrup echoed through the night.

The female pirate had once again dared to interfere with Wario's gold hoarding with her band of low – life mercenaries, leaving the pointy eared and overweight form of Wario to fight and battle his way into getting it back, and she had not counted on Wario's Bomb Expert of a little brother to tag along for the ride!

The Wario Brothers, Wario and Waluigi, sped through nocturnal clarity of the midnight air, not struggling in the least with their load of heavy sacks of gold as Wario's brute strength took the brunt of the weight, having won back their own riches and having the audacity to greedily swipe some of the Captains own treasures – the charismatic thieves looked back over their shoulders and paused, admiring their handiwork as the orange explosions lit up the sky of the Sugar Gangs Hideout.

Waluigi set down his share of the load, and pulled back one long arm, palming a perfectly round black Bob – Omb and forcing his full body forwards as he tossed the explosive into his previous battleground, grinned, his sharp eyes narrowing with conceited pleasure as it disappeared into the smoke for a few moments before a fresh new wave of flame erupted from within, the foundations of the hideout crumbling and collapsing into a pile of rubble.

"All Right!" Wario bellowed in utmost joy turning around and catching his lanky brothers hand in a high – five, turning back to the flames to triumphantly punch the air as the unbelievably thin Waluigi placed his hands on his narrow hips and burst out with joyous laughter at their victory.

Wario couldn't help the wild grin on his face – nothing made him happier than to beat down the thieving little wench that never seemed to learn her lesson in not to screw around with Wario – never mess with the best as Wario himself had put it.

Nostalgia and memories flooded back to him with his earliest memories of the Captain – his first encounter with her, Captain Syrup and her Genie. Wario did not like that Genie – after almost killing Wario, then accepting him as a new Master, the fat lump of ghostly lard refused to grant a wish unless Wario forked out all the money he had gained, selling all of the artifacts he had acquired to pay for it! What kind of Genie requires payment before granting a wish??

What a complete and total rip – off!!

Of course it'd been easier if he could have handed over that huge Golden Statue, the one that Mario had...

Wario frowned.

As much as he hated to admit it – he actually missed his small and friendly counterpart. The counterpart of which he had fought against, fought alongside with, and competed constantly with on many, many occasions over the years.

Mario – murdered by the Koopa Witch. Kammy Koopa, her strong magics proving too powerful for Mario to break out of, leaving him as nothing more than a target for a small army of Bob – Ombs, a cheap trick that even disgusted Wario, who was known for his dirty and low tricks and cheating skills. Bob – Ombs – Mario had been killed with Bob – Ombs, very similar to the ones that he and his own brother where so talented in using.

Waluigi didn't really seem to think that it was that big a deal. Mario died – so what? All the more limelight for the far superior Wario Brothers!

"Everybody dies Wario!" Waluigi had said upon the day that the two had been brought the news that Mario had been murdered. "You're born, then you die! The part in the middle's called "Life", and I'm not wasting mine crying over that loser's sorry carcass! You're going soft bro!"

He'd had a point. A cruelly made one, but Waluigi did indeed have a point. Death was a natural occurrence in a mortal life – and even if Mario's death had been long before his time – eventually he would have passed away, with little for his many fans and followers to do but to get on with their own lives.

He heaved a heavy sigh.

The logic of the matter didn't fill in the gaping hole of which Mario had once filled. Perhaps in some way – he'd actually admired him, Mario. In some points of life looked up to him and –

Waluigi was right. Wario was going soft – too soft if he was getting sentimental over the likes of Mario!

Whatever happened to the fearless gruff form of Wario – who'd effortlessly plough through and destroy his foes? Whatever happened to his joyously pessimistic cries of "Have a Rotten Day!" as he'd swing and beat up any enemy that came across his path.

This was Mario's fault! He'd done his creepy little "I'm a friendly and sweet little hero man who can't do wrong!" mumbo – jumbo jinx stuff or something!

Wario never used to be like this – reduced to actually going to funerals and getting all mushy over the "hero" type. Hero – Pah! Wario hated the word. Hero's where a bunch of losers who thought the only way to go, was to be a lousy Do – Gooder and get people to like you and...

It couldn't be helped – Wario was gradually becoming one of the good guys, and was beginning to form friendships with his former rivals.

Remembering Waluigi's behavior at the Funeral and how Wario had actually stepped in to put a stop to it was a thought that had stuck in his head. He'd made Waluigi come to the Funeral whether he'd liked it or not – and it was the 'or not' where Waluigi's opinion on the matter lay! It'd just be plain wrong not to at least say good – bye to Mario – even by Wario's standards, after all – it'd been fun while it lasted... kinda. Fun when Wario didn't actually lose to him – but as Rivals, Wario had seen him a worthy opponent and respected him for that.

When Waluigi had made it seem that Mario's Funeral was just a boring smudge on his everyday life – he didn't blame Luigi for flying off the handle and attacking him. In a reverse situation – he'd probably have done the same (and won by the way). It embarrassed him and actually made him feel ashamed of his little brother.

Wario shook it off, with Waluigi's hand on his shoulder to help him through it.

"Wario – Snap out of it!" his oddly tuned voice was loud and had a worried hint of urgency to it as he shook his brother back to reality.

"Wha..?" Wario shook his head vigorously, looking up to see the skinny and taller form of his brother before him looking down at him, the golden heat of the flame and the burning behind him brought light upon his features and delivering a sharp line of definition to his form. "What is it?"

"You look about ready to start crying – what the hell's the matter?? We won! The Super Wario Brothers kicked her ass! Why the long face?" He turned and stooped to pick of his share of the treasure and heaving it up to swing over his narrow shoulder and wait for his brothers answer.

"Hey – it's nothing!" Wario lied, bursting out into a fit of fake laughter and continued to punch the air. "The Incredible Wario Brothers Rule!"

Waluigi – unconvinced - raised an eyebrow at Wario.

"You're not still down over that idiot Mario are you?" His look upon his older brother was almost a judging glare, as though he where the leader of the duo, and ready to stir up trouble between themselves. "Get over it Wario – For God's sake – he's dead, boo – hoo, the other idiot'll take over if your that choked up about it! But seriously – what's the big deal?"

Wario felt a spark of anger stir within his heart.

"The big deal Waluigi – is that Mario – someone of whom I considered a friend is dead! And although that may seem to you as some stupid and insignificant little occurrence in your life – I can't help it! I respected him – even if you can't! That bitch Kammy murdered him – and got away with it, and that's something I can't handle!"

Waluigi blinked. He had far from anticipated Wario's outburst upon him, only minutes after laughing and sharing with him a first victory against an old enemy of whom Wario had often boasted of defeating, he'd actually expected him to come out with a comment along the lines of "why the hell would I still be mourning over that loser!" It had actually taken a moment for it to sink in, and even then Waluigi didn't believe it. Until finally, the truth hit him.

"Oh my God – you're serious!"

"Of course I'm serious!! What, are you retarded or something?! Y'know, it's kinda sickening considering the heartless bastard you've grown into Waluigi! There's nothing wrong with being a criminal who has friends, and can mourn for his or her death without shame! It's like you..."

"What is you're problem!?" Waluigi yelled back, throwing down his sack of Gold to stare his brother in the eye, face to face as Wario did likewise, both feeling their fists curl tightly at their sides. "It's only Mario! You can do better than him or his sappy brother Luigi! Hell – I'd sooner make friends with Toad than those geeks!"

"And what's wrong with Toad?" Wario demanded.

"Oh for the love of – What's happened to you?? What's happening to the Super Wario Brothers?? What do we care about anyone else? Why are you getting so worked up about this?"

"Toad gave me chances to prove myself to be a Super Star, Toad's been there for all of us – including you and given us the chance to prove ourselves for our greatness on several occasions – and I'm getting worked up about it because I've just realized that my baby brother doesn't know what it is to love!"

"Love..??" Waluigi's yelling cut short suddenly, his shoulders sinking and his face coming over with a look of scared concern. "Wario... you weren't... you weren't gay with Mario... where you?"

"See?? That's exactly what I mean!" Wario bawled, his face reddening with anger. "What do you think it is friends share between them?? What do you think we have?? You're my little brother Waluigi – and I do love you very much – does that make me gay with you?? No – it doesn't!"

"Wario – don't say it out loud..." Waluigi hushed motioning with his hands for him to lower his voice, and looking around frantically as though someone would judge brotherly love – his face visibly going red, and not from the heat of the flames behind him.

With a cry of rage Wario spun around and lifted the bags of Gold and stormed off through the night. Waluigi looked around, as though completing a last minute check of whether or not anyone had heard the proof of the fact that indeed the Wario Brothers shared a bond of brotherly affection, lifted the bag over his shoulder and ran off after Wario.

Wario's car was not too far from the scene; the sleek purple sheen caught their eyes from behind the set of rocks of which it where parked and hidden.

Upon seeing it, Wario released a weary smile. Unbeknownst to anyone other than the brothers – Wario called this his "Purple Pride and Joy", a heavy weight car, able to hold even the likes of Bowser and still be able to reach speeds of two hundred and eighty mph!

Walking around to the side of the car, lifting and unloading the bags from his back and into the spare seats, and entering the vehicle from the side drivers door, sitting back and relaxing at the wheel whilst waiting for Waluigi to catch up on him.

It didn't take long of course for the younger sibling to enter Wario's sights as he too shifted his share of the winnings into the car, and leap into the passenger seat, pulling his cap down over his eyes and setting both arms behind his head, kicking back and relaxing with a sigh.

"Wake me up when we get home..." was one of the few sentences of conversation exchanged between the two in all the time they shared a ride on this night. An aspect of the night that they would come to regret – an aspect that at least Waluigi would...

Wario shot a glare towards him and then sighed, starting up the engines and driving out of the hiding place and reversing, throwing one last glance and a smirk back at the inferno that was once the hideaway of Captain Syrup.

And with a casual flick of the Radio switch, Wario drove out of the scene and into the open road. An empty and endless stretch of pressed tar and concrete to make a roadway safe for the likes of travel.

The Radio DJ had an annoyingly cheesy and cheerful tone to his voice that Wario despised, throwing a quick glare to the dial on the car radio, but he didn't touch it.

_"... And that song we just heard was "Don't Fear The Reaper" by the Blue Oyster Cult – a Timeless classic, I'm sure all you listeners of the Mushroom Kingdom out there will agree!"_

Wario had turned on the radio too late and had missed this song, and these where the words greeted as he switched the radio on – He'd never heard the song before. But the title "Don't Fear The Reaper" seemed a little too morbid for his liking, throwing another sharp glance towards the dial.

_"We're still taking requests for music tonight, and on request of Her Royal Highness Princess Daisy – That's right – We've just received a call from the fabled Princess Daisy people! We'll be playing "The Promise" by Within Temptation!"_

Daisy?? Princess Daisy was listening to the Radio at (Wario checked the car clock) two in the Morning?? This was certainly unexpected...

The music began, slow and mystical.

_"Where are we now... you almost look happy..."_

The opening lines, spoken, not sung. Wario shrugged.

_"Where are we now... you almost look happy..."_

The same line again. Strange... The music got louder, trumpets sounded.

_"Where are we now... look happy..._

_You almost look happy..._

_You almost look happy..."_

Ok – this song was getting annoying – if it could be called a song at all! All it seemed to consist of was dreary music and some dull guy saying the same line over and over again!

_"Look happy..."_

Guitars ripped through the speakers suddenly, in an awesome audio display of rock music.

This was more like it!

Loud and rampant, as accompanied violins and drums sounded across, and Wario found himself smiling. Daisy actually listened to this stuff??

Pretty hard to believe – but nonetheless awesome! Her Royal Highness Princess Daisy was into rock! Then again, she was hardly your snobby Princess – ish type....

He was beginning to like this song. As the music stayed strong the violins came in louder, until finally, the high pitched sound of female singing came in as the guitars stopped suddenly.

_"On Behalf Of Her Love_

_She No Longer Sleeps_

_Life Had No Longer Meaning_

_Nothing to Make Her Stay_

_She Sold Her Soul Away_

_I Held You Tight To Me_

_You Slipped Away_

_You Promised_

_To Return _

_To Me_

_And I Believed..._

_I Believed..."_

The guitars where back and Wario found himself nodding his head in time to the music. The singer was too high pitched for his liking, but the music along with the singing was brilliant!

"That song's crap Wario – turn it off. Daisy obviously doesn't know good music..." Waluigi ordered, not moving a muscle from his laidback state. Wario ignored him.

_"On The Night He Died _

_I Wept My Tears Until They Dried"_

Wario frowned – now realizing fully what the song was about. Death.

_"But the Pain Stayed The Same_

_I Didn't Want Him To Die_

_All In Vain_

_I Made A Promise_

_To Revenge His Soul In Time_

_I'll Make Them Bleed!!_

_Down At My Feet!"_

Waluigi sniggered – so much for going to sleep... Wario rolled his eyes with a sigh, and continued with his driving to their home castle – the only thing Wario loved more than his car and his Gold. A Castle to pronounce how truly grand and great he really was!

The Radio sang on.

If they had known any better, they might have taken the words as an omen, as many regrets would be shown vividly, and it would be known just how the character of the song felt...

_"I held you Tight To Me_

_You Slipped Away_

_You Promised To Return To Me_

_And I Believed..._

_I Believed..._

_Sometimes I Wonder_

_Could I Have Known About_

_The True Intentions?_

_But The Pain Stayed The Same_

_I'm Going To Hunt Them Down_

_All The Way!_

_I Made A Promise_

_To Revenge His Soul In Time_

_One By One_

_They Where Surprised!_

_I held you Tight To Me_

_You Slipped Away_

_You Promised To Return To Me_

_And I Believed..._

_I Believed..._

_Where are we now... you almost look happy..."_

"Wario – Turn that Crap off Now!" Waluigi snapped irritably at the sound of the dull young man speak again, and delivered a firm kick, his foot hitting the switch to turn the radio off. Wario sighed once more and gave an annoyed grunt towards Waluigi. Waluigi tilted his cap up. "You're gonna make up some cliché' crap about it reminding you of Mario – so turn it off and save us both a lotta grief..."

Wario muttered an obscene curse under his breath, not even bothering to glance back at him or protest, keeping his eyes on the stretch of road before him.

There was no traffic.

That was cool with him – fewer idiots's to risk scratching the paintwork of his car as he shoved and drove them off of the road! Quieter with less hassle, and leaving Wario to begin thinking on how he would spend his wealth.

A bigger castle?

A better car?

All the food he could eat?

Oh – the possibilities! What he could do with all that money! The way he was going – he'd have enough money to keep him rich and comfortably well off until his last breath!

A smile painted itself across his broad face, as he glanced up at the stars.

Maybe he'd have a star named after him – the Wario Star! That way – he's always be known as "The Super Star!" for everyone to remember until the end of time!

A little high with the hopes – but a cool thought, one had to admit.

Into the distance – Wario could see the silhouette of his Castle. It was tiny and black, but it wouldn't be long until he'd be able to see the "W" emblem that portrayed his castle as his.

Dark, creepy and so wicked looking!

Now that was living! Scaring the crap out of anyone who walked passed, the gruff guffaws of Wario, and the maniacal laughter of Waluigi always audible from outside whenever a newly devised plot had hatched, or a bout of good news had arrived.

It began to rain suddenly, a crack of thunder and an instant downpour upon the open car exposed to all manner of things the sky could drop.

Waluigi released a squawk of dismay, sitting bolt upright, pulling his cap further into his skull as though it would defend his entire body from the onslaught of rain from the clouds above, heavily pregnant with water, as Wario glared and swore under his breath, the interior of his precious car susceptible to the rain.

"Hurry it up!! Park the damn car!!" Waluigi cried out, waving his arms wildly as though trying to swat the rain away from himself as the car moved towards the castle garage extension, lightning flashing through the night above, forking violently through the night in brilliant white on the deep blue / black canvas of the sky.

Only minutes later, the car was parked safely within the castle indoor parking lot – available only to the Wario Brothers of course – and maybe some of the others if they stopped by...

Waluigi had leapt out of the car in a sudden foul mood, wringing the water from his cap before slapping it back onto the top of his head.

"What a perfect ending to the perfect night!" he spat viciously, wheeling around on his older brother as though the rain had somehow been his fault. "I'm going to change – you put the Gold away in the vault!" he finished with a nasty screech to his voice as he turned and stormed away.

Wario sighed returning with a single flip of the bird towards his moody younger sibling as he heaved himself out of the car, deciding to himself that he would shove the winnings in the vault in the morning. He was tired after his heavy struggle and felt entitled at least to a night of relaxation.

With a heavy yawn, he trudged out into the hallways, looking up the stairs to see Waluigi's shadow disappear behind a set of walls. Shrugging to himself, Wario wandered upstairs after him, sleep beckoned him, and he was going.

The thought of his luxurious bedroom with the huge bed and the statues of himself bearing his wildly muscular figure made him smile – even if Waluigi pointed out that what Wario had was fat rather than muscle...

Reaching the top of the stairs, Wario came to reach his bedroom door; a heavy thing made of the finest oak and decorated with elegant carvings of Wario's image.

Reaching out for the handle and shoving the door wide open, he stepped into the huge space, of which he called his bedroom, to freeze suddenly.

The fires where lit, and had been for a bit of time now judging by the overall temperature of the room.

He spied the broomstick by a large velvet cushioned chair. A tiny thing – perhaps only around three feet high, but the broomstick wasn't the main thing on Wario's mind.

What was, was the shriveled old Koopa lady snuggled inside the chair staring hardly at him through cheap granny – glasses.

"Ah, Wario! I don't believe we've had the pleasure!" she cackled, jumping from the chair and onto the ground, her purple robes flowing, her pointed hat twitching as she hit the ground.

Wario blinked. He was very surprised that anyone would have the audacity to break into his home, enter his room and make themselves at home – let alone a senile old Koopa Crone!

"...And who the hell are you supposed to be??" he demanded, deciding he'd get violent after he'd worked out who she was, and he didn't know how to describe the feeling exactly, but he could sense a strong foreboding of very bad tidings from this little old Koopa.

"Tsch! The manners you people lack these days!" she muttered with a shake of the head. "I Wario – am the beautifully talented and skilled Witch and Servant of Bowser – or was rather, seeing as that bumbling oaf of a beast had me fired, but on the subject at hand – my name is..."

"Kammy Koopa?" Wario finished for her, feeling a tightening of muscles on his part and a strong fear coming from deep within. He had not expected at all to come home and face to face with Mario's murderer, but seeing as she was here...

"Don't bother trying to attack me Wario – lest I be forced to do take instant action upon you." She warned with a simpering smile as she folded her tiny arms across her chest.

"What do you want?" Wario snarled towards her, his mind spinning with ideas of how he would take her down.

"Oh, nothing in particular Mr. Wario sir," she smirked, looking down at her feet. "Just the factor that a little bird tells me that you bear particular problems upon it, and have recently been gallivanting around with a new partner in crime! May I ask who?" she tried to make her voice sound so sweet and innocent, and it was with these words that it struck Wario.

Kammy meant to do to him and Waluigi, what she'd done to Mario – and Wario felt raw anger plucking at his heart and knew now that he had to take her down.

But there was little point in dragging Waluigi into this, in the very unlikely event that she where to reign victory over them, she'd only hurt him too.

"I strictly work alone, and by the way – if you came here thinking that you where going to kill me like you killed Mario – you're way in over your head. I'm stronger, faster and just overall better than he was, so if you think..."

"Oh, we'll see." Kammy nodded, pulling from nowhere her jeweled wand, spinning it within her fists and pointing it at Wario, who with sudden shock felt his body go rigid so quickly and catching him off guard as he felt his muscles lock tightly in their place.

"Wh – what have you done??"

"If you came here thinking that you where going to kill me like you killed Mario – you're way in over your head. I'm stronger, faster and just overall better than he was!" Kammy mimicked cruelly with a wide toothy grin. "Well it would appear that I'm just overall better than both of you aren't I Mr. Wario sir?"

"Coward!!" Wario screamed furiously fighting to try and pry some sort of movement from his body that stood as still as the stone figures of himself within the room. "Let me go and see how strong you are in a fair fight!"

"Oh, Wario! I'm impressed that a man of such reputation as yourself even knows what the word 'fair' means!" Kammy giggled like a love - struck schoolgirl, which in Wario's opinion sounded quite retarded coming from her. "I'm afraid I can't do that, y'see – I'm in a new partnership these days, and my allies have got quite a few problems with you at the given moment, and have asked that since my killing of the fabled Mario was so successful, to dispose of you, and so..."

"Wario, where are the towels?" Waluigi's voice called out loudly from beyond the hallway, and Wario's heart numbed instantly in his chest for fear of his little brother.

Kammy blinked, giving Wario a tapered look recalling his statement of working alone.

"And who might that be?" she inquired delicately, cracking her knuckles.

"Servant," Wario answered instantly, glaring piercingly towards the Koopa Crone. Kammy cocked her head to the side, giving a rather quizzical look upon him.

"Your servants call you by your name? Rather than 'Sir' or 'Master'?"

Wario looked back towards the door frantically, hoping and praying that Waluigi would not decide to enter, his heartbeat beginning to speed up alarmingly high and he could feel beads of sweat forming on his forehead as he looked back at the door.

"Wario??" Waluigi called once more from beyond the door, his voice getting ever closer. "Hey – I'm talking to you jackass!"

Kammy giggled, holding a decrepit hand to her mouth, rocking slightly with her laughter.

"A servant, hmmm??" she teased with a cruel sneer towards Wario, his fear for his brother becoming increasingly strong as cold sweat ran down his face and he trembled slightly – if Waluigi where to enter the room, she'd only try to kill him too.

If he had kept up the servant act, not only would Kammy know that he was lying – after all, a man being murdered does not waste his time talking to servants – but Waluigi would be confused and walk in demanding to know what the hell he was talking about.

Kammy produced with a wave of her wand, a Bob – Omb, gleaming in shiny black, it's fuse lit and hissing its deadly hiss, it's tiny feet marching in her hand as she set it upon the ground and stepped back a little as it began to walk towards the door.

Wario's blood turned to ice, his pupils shrank to two tiny dots as he predicted what was to happen.

He called out a strangled cry as it drew near the door.

"WALUIGI – DON'T COME IN – GET AWAY!!"

He had not even finished with his warning as the door swung open and the tall and lanky figure of his little brother appeared, his eyes widening upon seeing the Koopa lady and looking down at his feet just in time to see the Bob – Omb erupt in a flash or fiery red, and Waluigi cried out in shock as he was thrown backwards from the raw force of the explosion and sent hurtling before hitting the banister that lined the floor of the hallway and tumbled down out of sight as the door was ripped from it's hinges and blown to the side..

There was a thud and a squawk from Waluigi.

Then there was silence.

"Oh my G - !" Wario trembled, tears forming in his eyes as he looked back over his shoulder for as far as he could manage. All that he could see was the blackened doorway and the black burn marks that scarred the floor and the thin tendrils of smoke that rose from the Bob – Omb's wake. "WALUIGI!!!!!" Wario screamed desperately, hoping and praying that he was ok, wishing and begging to Fate that his brother was alive. "WALUIGI, WALUIGI ARE YOU..."

"Dead?" Kammy cut in with a smile. "Probably – a skinny thing like him would have probably snapped like the twig that he is – no point in fretting over him anymore Wario..." she paused, lifting from the folds of her purple robes, another Bob – Omb. Setting it down on the ground and with a wave of her wand, the tiny instrument of death and destruction multiplied, shadows forming from it in all directions and fanning out to become physical, and Wario could not speak. Could not feel. He was now numb with disbelief. He did not even hear Kammy complete her sentence. "...seeing as you'll meet up in Hell!"

And as they began to march towards him, the tiny black spheres on feet walking towards him, and Kammy's high pitched cackle rang aloud through the castle, Wario knew as he looked death straight in the eye...

...he knew...

...that the Wario Brothers where no more...

* * *

This has been in the works for some time, I'm trying to focus solely on my novilization of Final Fantasy VII – but it gets boring focusing on one particular fanfic at a time. And seeing as "My Big Brother" seems to be the second most popular of my stories – I figured I'd do a rather lengthy sequel, yes there is more to come so stay tuned, but at this precise moment in time – I've got Homework to attend to, so when it's done, I might get round to starting Chapter two.

Until Next Time!


	2. Words

Thank you so much for the reviews! Sorry about the delay, I've had a hellish week and am now sporting a broken foot, being the lucky girl that I am... But I've now more time to write so more updates are on the way.

Oh yeah, and for those of you – like my friend who asked – who didn't know, Captain Syrup and the Sugar Gang appeared in the original "Warioland" for the original Gameboy, and again in "Warioland 2" – I haven't played "Warioland 3" or "WarioWorld" for the Gamecube so I have no idea on whether or not she came back for a third and fourth beating, but whether she did or didn't, Wario probably would have kicked her ass there too. Can't think of anything else to write in this space, so let's just get onto the fic, shall we?

* * *

The Night was still strong.

The stars gazed upon the Earth silently from atop the clouds and the cold mists of the sky that wept a strong shower of miserable rain upon the inhabitants of the Mushroom Kingdom.

Princess Daisy drove alone in her smart and pretty little car, and her long dark hair flaying out behind her as she drove speedily down the empty roads, her cellphone at her side and the radio blaring as she tried to control the steering wheel whilst holding her petite little parasol at the same time. The parasol in question was not intended to fend off such raging torrents of rain such as the strength of which she now found herself soaked in, but rather to protect her complexion from sunlight.

Being caught out on what had been a crisp, clear and calm night up until a few minutes when the rain began to weep down upon her and the wind screamed and howled in her ears and whipped around her, her parasol was her only defense, even if it where a weak one. Daisy counted herself lucky that she'd kept it in her car on her ride prior to this one.

But in the middle of an open road with a roofless car – what was girl to do?

"Stupid Rain..." she grumbled irritably, her silken dress, the color of sunlight was wet and probably ruined, her hair was getting ruined, and the insides of her car where susceptible to all sorts of ruin that the rain could spill.

Of all the nights to accept a call from her friend...

Of course she could have hardly said no.

Even after three weeks, Luigi still hadn't been able to come to terms over his brother's sad, untimely and ultimately shocking death at the hands of the evil Kammy Koopa.

Many, many people where still in this stage of denial. Princess Peach included. It had all seemed so wrong – that Mario had been killed so easily when he had lived through so much...

Daisy herself had indeed been shocked and had cried for a time upon hearing of Mario's death – and she had agreed completely that it had been wrong and utterly disgusting to fight and kill anyone in such a fashion – to have the victims joints sealed by magic, rendering them entirely helpless whilst she set off a troupe of Bob – Ombs to finish off the job at hand.

Daisy couldn't deny, that this was a whole new low to the world of Evil in the Mushroom Kingdom. But Daisy – unlike the Majority of the Mushroom Kingdom, knew when it was time to move on.

Mario had indeed been her friend – and she had indeed been wounded deeply with his death – but mourning forever was not going to bring him back, nor do anyone any good. She new it was hard, but in the end, all that crying was going was to give the mourner sore eyes and runny nose. She knew that crying in some people's cases couldn't be helped, she'd experienced first hand to be able to make hat statement – but in the end, it got a person nowhere.

But Luigi had been his little brother, his trusty partner and forever friend, and had known Mario better than anyone else ever would have hoped to. He had looked up to Mario since forever, and to lose someone so close to the heart to a murderer – well that was entirely different to the circumstances of a fan mourning the death of a Hero.

The experience was sure to leave a scar of some sort. Daisy knew that he'd never fully recover from discovering exactly what had happened to Mario – losing a loved one to natural causes, and losing a loved one to the result of someone's hate... Daisy didn't blame Luigi for still being upset over the matter, it was only natural, and time was to heal all wounds.

But it was not only Luigi's pain that gave her cause for concern.

It was also his anger, his fury, and his blinding new hatred that had arisen towards the tiny old witch that had stolen his brother from him. Daisy had forever known the Mario Brothers never to be people who believed in revenge. If something bad had happened in the past, Mario and Luigi would always just do what was required in order to put things right. Nothing more. Of course, with Bowser refusing to let them do so, he normally had to be taken care of. But at the end of each adventure – they would go home in a "no – hard – feelings" kind of way until Bowser once again gave them cause to rescue Peach (once again). But now (and it was plainly obvious for anyone to see) that Luigi was churning up in his mind a plot of revenge and avenging. She knew that in his mind spun furious images of a face of with Kammy in which she would succumb in terror and in agony to his wrath.

And this just wasn't the Luigi that she knew.

Luigi was smart man, brave with a determination to do what was right. A little shy maybe, but he had a heart of Gold, just like his Big Brother had...

What had happened to him?

Until it had happened, Daisy had never lost anyone close to her to murder, but she knew how much it must hurt to know that someone could just take someone's life for whatever reason. Daisy personally didn't believe in killing anyone or anything, execution, abortion, revenge – they where all no – no's. The way she saw it, life was a gift given to someone once and only once, and no – one has the right to take it away from someone else, no matter what the reason...

And so this was why.

This was why Daisy – whom Luigi knew would be up to all hours anyway – was called upon and why she made her way out through the night to see her friend. She was needed. Consoling was required on her part, and she had always felt that she and Luigi had shared a bond of some sort. This was why Daisy drove through the torrents of wind of water underneath the dark sky and the huge orb of the moon.

"Man, why am I so darn _nice_ all the time!" she muttered to herself as she drove onward with a sigh, her brow furrowed angrily as the wind tugged at her parasol and tore at her hair.

The noise was getting on her nerves also, as though the provided bad weather wasn't bad enough... The screaming of the wind howling and shrieking in her ears, the constant pattering of the rain hammering like bullets from a machine gun upon her car and the radio playing loudly and just coming across as a background annoyance as Daisy was no longer in the mood to listen to it but was too busy to turn it off, and combining with the wind and the rain, Daisy felt about ready to hurt someone.

And then, in addition there was a cackle.

It wasn't the wind.

It wasn't the rain.

And Daisy seriously doubted that a cackle was part of the song _"My Immortal"_ that sang gently under the wind on the radio.

Daisy looked up, curiosity and astonishment replacing her frustration and anger, bringing the car to a halt and shifting her parasol slightly to look up to the sky of whence the laugh sounded.

Her eyes widened to see the silhouette of a tiny figure on a broomstick fly across the moon, waving a wand maniacally and it twinkled red in the night as they sped through the air and disappeared into the dark once more.

Daisy blinked her wide blue eyes.

Then she blinked a further two times.

"...Ya don't see that every day..." Daisy whistled under her breath as she revved up the engine of her car and set off through the night once again, but now deeper in though than in anger and hatred for rain.

She knew what she had seen, and she didn't doubt in her mind that it was someone like Kamek, or even, Kammy – who had made quite a name for herself in the passed month. Either way – it was bad news and Daisy didn't like it. Especially if it where Kammy, which indeed seemed more probable as the screech of laughter was almost definitely that of a female.

Daisy felt her fingers tighten around the steering wheel.

Kammy – possibly now the most hated villain in the Mushroom Kingdom – even more so than Bowser had ever been. Daisy despised that Koopa, that cowardly and despicable old crone. Despised not only for what she had done to Mario, but to Luigi, to Peach, and to countless others. She had sent the Mushroom Kingdom under a veil of mourning and sadness for the loss of their hero.

"Yeah, just you keep laughing missy, you'll get your comeuppance..." Daisy growled in anger as she drove along before a sudden, long and wide streak of forked lightning flashed it's deadly mystifying light across the sky.

Daisy gave a squeal, jumping in her seat before speeding up and zooming down the road in a hurry as the downpour of rain got that little bit more intense. Daisy had had enough of the weather, had enough of the rain, the wind, the cold – a girl like her just wasn't made for the rough outdoors as such!

Her eyes narrowed as they set out on the road before her, her headlights lighting up every certain amount of distance they came across as they traveled. Alongside the roads where such sights as Piranha Plants, nestling into their own stalks, Fire Flowers lining the roads twitching in the rain and swaying in the wind. Lights of faraway villages where distant, tiny flashing lights overhead signaled aircrafts roaring above her – probably headed for Isle Delphino – it's popularity as a Tourist attraction had boosted incredibly high after Mario's adventures there...

But on a more local not, she could see a building in the distance, a bright warm light shining from the window like a beacon. The building in question was large, stony and sinister, and Daisy could just about make out the glint of a metallic "W" above the heavy door.

The Wario Castle.

The Residence of Wario and Waluigi, the Wario Brothers, was recognized as she drew closer and closer. It wasn't too long before she noticed that from this one brightly illuminated window, several windows surrounding where glowing also.

Daisy though nothing strange of it, after all on a cold night such as this, what was so wrong in lighting the hearth(s) for warmth and comfort. And anyway, it was hardly any of her business, or so she though as she sped by. Whatever Wario and Waluigi where doing with half of the castle lights on and the fireplaces lit was of no concern to her.

A small spark of a memory came to her, of three weeks previous, at Mario's funeral, when they had surprised everyone by turning up. Judging by their extreme rivalry towards Mario and Luigi and their determination to beat them at everything they did in an "Anything – you – can – do – I – can – do – better" kind of way, and the lengths they would sometimes go to beat them, it had left the impression that they didn't exactly _like_ the Mario Brothers.

Wario's head was low, his eyes where sad. For what was probably the first time Wario had approached Luigi, Peach, Toad and the others – he behaved in an appropriate fashion. He didn't make a fool of anyone, he didn't steal anything, and he didn't cause any trouble.

But Waluigi had to go and spoil it, asking loudly if he could leave, making it sound as though the entire funeral and Mario's death was nothing more than a boring inconvenience to him and that he couldn't really care less if Mario's carcass was to rot in an underground box for eternity.

Daisy sighed sadly.

Although she had managed to construct a fairly cordial relationship with the younger of the two Wario Brothers, it was plain to see that he had a repulsive attitude problem that needed a few too many adjustments made!

But the Wario Brothers where not her primary concern at the given moment.

The rain showed her no mercy as she drove on, desperate to reach the home of Luigi at all costs. Daisy was never one to let down a friend, never was she one to deserve the title "fair - weather friend". Daisy could always be counted on. That was just the type of person she was, always ready to battle the odds, staring the world and all it threw at her straight in the eye and challenged it to an arm – wrestle. She wasn't like Peach. All ladylike and overflowing with feminine charm ruling over the Mushroom Kingdom silently from her thrown and throwing tea parties for her friends, baking cakes and brownies until the likes of Bowser or one of his deranged brats managed to kidnap her.

Peach was a sweet girl but was exactly the kind of person who could hire herself out as a professional hostage from literally years of personal experience. Daisy had seen Peach fight – she wasn't exactly helpless, and couldn't really understand how she actually managed to get herself captured so often. Daisy herself had been kidnapped once or twice, but Peach – she held the world record, without a doubt! When Peach had entered the "Super Smash Brothers Tournament" she had shed her ladylike image and actually managed to beat the stuffing out of quite a few opponents before losing.

It was beyond Daisy as to why Peach just didn't smack Bowser in the face and tell him to take a hike – but that was Peach for you. She just didn't know when it was time to get tough.

Peach had taken Mario's death just about as bad as Luigi had done, and Toadsworth had had his work cut out for him in his desperate attempts to comfort her, but to little avail. There was just no consoling her. Since it had happened she had wept what Daisy estimated to be literal buckets. How she missed her Hero so, so much.

But she had leaned on Toadsworth for comfort, just as Luigi leaned on Daisy herself. And she blinked gratefully as she began to notice the small house in the distance she knew to be the home of the younger of the renowned Mario Brothers.

She just hoped that Luigi – like the Wario Brothers at least had a hot fire going, at around 2.15 in the morning, in the midst of a churning storm, Daisy didn't think it too much to hope for as she cursed loudly, her parasol spraying back with the force of the wind and Daisy having little choice but to leave it as it was as she battled with the steering wheel in one hand and holding her damaged parasol in the other as she tried to force her diverted attention back onto the road, desperate to hurry up and get there.

But she was getting there, and quickly too as she heightened her speed and bulleted through the road as lightning flashed and sparked in bright illuminating explosions throughout the sky as rain spilled mercilessly upon her, wind pulling at her brown hair as Luigi's home came closer and closer.

She drove as though she competed in a race, desperate to reach her destination and to be with Luigi, to be with her friend and to at least be out of this horrific weather of which she prayed would have calmed down by the time she was heading back to her own home. Her engines roared as she drove faster and faster, taking the split second it took to snatch her crown out of the air as it flew from her head and then she was instantly back on track, closing in on the house with every passing moment of time.

And finally she was there, brakes screeching to a halt, wet and loose mud spraying from the wheels as she slowed down and finally came to stop under a canopy of tree's, shielding all beneath from the rain. The engines cut and Daisy gasped, her knuckles bleached beneath her gloves upon the wheel as she let go. Switching the Radio off with a smart flick of the dial, he hopped out of the car, her dress sticking to her legs and mud spattered around her shoes.

"Aw man!" She sighed, leaning back into the car and picking up her parasol, shaking it free of water and fiddling with the spokes until the instrument was fixed to the extent it could be. But it was, without a doubt, ruined, the silk spoiled and one or two of the spokes damaged with the force of the wind. With an angry growl, she threw it back into the car seat cursing under her breath.

Her ears stung with the cold, her earrings fashioned in the image of Daisy's to match her name hung stingingly through her pierced lobes. Her arms felt like ice and she shivered, running both hands up and down both. But standing outdoors in this horrendous weather wasn't going to do much to remedy that.

She turned and marched around the tree's and approaching the house. There was a warm light and brightness beyond the windows as she walked around to come to the wooden door of entrance.

Pulling her hair from her eyes, Daisy then reached out with her slender little hands and tapped with her knuckles in a speedy little rhythm upon the wooden door. She could not hear it due to the force of the wind in her ears and the rain thundering around her. So she knocked once more, harder this time.

Then she waited.

No answer.

She knocked again harder still, this time calling out the resident's name in attempt to get his attention, hoping that he hadn't fallen asleep inside, leaving Daisy with naught to do but to battle the forces of nature once again in getting back home.

"Luigi??" Drowned in the wind and rain, Daisy was rather vexed to find that she could hardly hear her own voice herself, let alone Luigi inside, but she didn't give in. "Luigi – are you there? It's Daisy!"

She was in the process of knocking a fourth time in order to draw attention to her friend inside when the door suddenly came to open and Daisy gave a sigh of relief as she saw it happen and Luigi's red eyed and gloomy figure came to the door, gasping in shock when he saw the state of her and what his request had done to her.

Her normally shining and radiant hair now lank and stringy with water and damaged with the wind as it dangled loosely before her pretty face, her golden dress hung on her frame and puckered and clung to her body as she shivered with the cold.

Luigi was instantly in apology, swinging the door wider to give entrance.

"I'm sorry! I didn't realize that there was such a storm going, come in!" he apologized guiltily, making way for the Princess to make her entrance into his home, head hung low in regret for putting her through all of that, now seeing the selfishness of his request and now ready to make it up to her.

She stepped inside with a dainty sneeze whilst peeling off her drenched gloves as Luigi shut the door behind her and in doing so banishing the wind and rain from Daisy, and then in turn rushed off to find some towels.

The heat of the indoor surroundings stung Daisy's skin pleasurably, as she drew a hand across her own face to pull back strings of hair and to wipe the water from her face before looking around. The house was pretty much the same as it had always been, small yet cozy. Mario's things had been pretty much untouched. She had known that many people had asked Luigi to sell some of his stuff, but as far she knew, he had refused and at some point was to place Mario's things into the basement. But at the current moment he hadn't found the time to do so.

It was a little untidy, things a little out of place but it was nothing that Daisy minded – in actual fact, she found people who couldn't abide a little untidiness to be rather weird. It was stupid, but to inspect tidiness wasn't what she was here for. And anyway, the sudden loudness outside quickly drew her attentions.

There was an explosion of lighting clearly audible as it crashed and Daisy jumped with a squeak, spinning around to face the window, cascaded with water of the heavy rain before the darkness that smothered anything else from sight until the occasional bolt of lightening lit the landscape up for a split second before darkness enclosed once more.

But in the darkness, there was a light, and it had captured Daisy's attention as it burned out there in the distance in a bright and fiery glow. Daisy narrowed her eyes suspiciously, it was roughly around the area of the Wario castle, or so she estimated and she remembered the brightness coming from their windows as she drove passed.

"Here..." she turned to see Luigi holding out to her under one arm a soft towel intended to dry herself with and in the other a steaming cup of potable liquid, such as tea or coffee to Daisy's guesses. Daisy smiled abandoning the window and approaching Luigi and taking the items off of him with a polite 'Thank You' in turn.

He returned a weak smile in reply as he allowed himself to fall back upon a chair with a weary sigh, his elbows on his knees and his head in his hands as another frightful flash from outside brightened the room for a split second before dimming down back to the warm glow of light bulbs and the fireplace in the tiny house.

"Please, sit down – make yourself at home," Luigi invited politely, sitting up suddenly, removing the green cap from atop his head and running his white – gloved fingers through his brown hair before slapping the cap down upon his skull once more with a somewhat more shrill sounding sigh as he lowered his eyes.

Daisy's shoulders rose and sank as she gave a sympathetic sigh of her own as she lowered her drink upon a wooden table before wandered throughout the house for a few moments, finding a small chair and lifting and carrying it over to set it down in front of her friend and sitting down before him, leaving the towel draped around her shoulder as she gazed at Luigi for a few moments.

_'He's trying not to cry in front of me...'_ she thought to herself with a frown, her blue eyes shining with the thirst to help and be there for him. She reached out a slender arm and her fingers tightened on his hand as her eyes locked into his as he looked up. She hated to see him so sad, so cheerless and somber. His face looked so painted, like the expression of an Artist's work as he expressed his pain through his art.

Daisy gave a sad but strong little smile that spoke without moving lips, telling him in silent words that she would be there for him for as long as he needed her to be.

"You don't know how much this means to me Daisy, I can't thank you enough for..."

Luigi spoke in his pained voice of which Daisy was quick to interrupt and speak over loudly and firmly.

"Don't be such a Dummy – its no big deal, really!" she said reassuringly, giving his hand another gentle squeeze. More lighting flashed and boomed from the outside. "As my friend – you have every right to seek my guidance and help whenever and wherever needed and can count on your ol' pal Daisy to be there!"

Luigi gave a small chuckle, lowering his head. The guilt of having her travel through such terrible weather was still stinging within him, but her words had had the desired effect upon him. Even if it had only been by a tiny fraction that she had managed to cheer him up, it was a start, and she was determined to pull him through this.

"Talk to me Luigi," she coaxed gently giving a gentle nod, her strings of hair releasing droplets of water as she did so that she did not care to notice.

Luigi's moist eyes blinked up at her and he took inside himself, a deep and reluctant breath of air before exhaling and coming into voice and words of speech.

"It just hurts so bad,"

"I know it does, and it will for a time..."

"He shouldn't have died like that! It was cowardly, cheap and... it just wasn't fair!" Luigi said loudly, looking up with a furrowed brow over a glare, not directed at Daisy but at how the concept of Life and Death worked. "He's had Boo's, Thwomps, Goomba's, Koopa's of all species, he's had ShyGuy's, even DK, Bowser – the Sun even attacked him once!" he continued, his glare growing tighter still and Daisy could feel his knuckles tense under her hand as his own hands balled into fists. "So how come an old Koopa lady manages to finish him off with a couple of Bob Omb's???"

Daisy closed her eyes for a moment, going into thought, her grip never loosening upon his hand in the process not even for a second. The rain pounded mercilessly against the glass windows and thunder and lighting elaborately decorated the sky with electricity, and cracked it with the low rumbles.

"And then the funeral – God, what a mess I made of that, and Waluigi..."

"Waluigi is a big dumb jerk and an insensitive moron." Daisy spoke with a hard edge to her voice and staring Luigi straight in the eye. "He had no right to say that, nor do you have any obligation to beat yourself up about it."

Luigi lifted his head, and gave a sad smile as he sighed.

"I can't help it though, I mean... who starts fights at funerals?"

"Luigi – shut up and take a second to actually think about it," Daisy ordered firmly. "You where protecting your Brother's memory, and there are million's of others who would have done the exact same thing," she insisted gently. "You where angry and upset, and nobody thinks of you any differently except that now you are the only living memory of him, and you've gotta be strong to keep fighting his fight! Ya got that?" she gave his hand a little shake as she listened to her words with wet eyes full of sorrow, before she went on. "And you know that me and all the other guys'll be there to back up a bazillion percent!"

"A bazillion percent?" Luigi repeated with a small smile at her brand new, made up number.

"A bazillion times more than infinite percent!" Daisy nodded with a grin. "You know it Luigi – in times like this, things can only get better – and as for Waluigi – I'll bet that trash he started at the funeral – just an act, y'know? I'll bet that when he got home, he cried like a little girl!!"

Luigi snorted at the thought that he deemed unlikely, but he appreciated her words tremendously as she got to her feet and embraced him in a tight hug, which he was quick to return.

"You know that I'll be there for you anytime, anywhere – right?" she asked, still locking him tightly within her arms.

"Right," he nodded with a smile as they both pulled back from the embrace to see each others smiles and tender glances of friendship. "I never forget how lucky I am to have a friend like you, Daisy!"

"A girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do right?" Daisy quipped with a cute little grin. "You okay now? Feeling any better?"

"Actually I am!" his face had begun to light up from the gloomy gray of his morose state of mind to the bright glow of appreciation from the moment Daisy's lips had first opened, and now, even through his big wet eyes, there was a glint of thanks in there that made Daisy feel that it really was worthwhile to brave the terrorsome stormy weather outdoors and to have to brave it again shortly, just to see his face.

"Well then..." Daisy yawned smilingly as she stretched out a little. "I guess I'll be heading back home then,"

"Daisy – "Luigi began in protest, his smile changing to a face of concern as he held out his hand as though it would stop her in her tracks. "Daisy, you can't go back out there, there are two beds here, stay the night and go back after the storms over, or at least when it's daylight!"

Daisy smiled. It was not an unreasonable offer, and she wasn't really the type to think that boy / girl sleepovers where creepy – guys and girls could be that close as friends without being sexual couldn't they?

But – Daisy also had business to attend to back home, although she was not as famed or as renowned as Princess Peach, a Princess still had her Royal duties to attend to and Daisy knew that she'd have to work to make up for the time she had taken with Luigi – but it was no biggie to her. Even so, she couldn't neglect her duties all of the time, and knew that she had to be firm.

"I'm sorry Luigi – I do appreciate it - really, but I got stuff I gotta do, and so I gotta go do it!"

"Daisy – the storm – you could drown in that!"

"That is an over - exaggeration if ever I heard one!" Daisy smiled, flicking a piece of hair from her eyes, though privately agreeing with a tiny hint of a shudder as another crack of lightning flashed up the scenery beyond the walls.

But Luigi was stubborn – it normally wasn't like him to be stubborn, normally he was quite an agreeable person, not a pushover as such however.

"Daisy, you're wearing a soaking dress, your car lacks any sort of ceiling – I can't let you go out there!" he insisted, obstinately moving towards the door to lock it.

Daisy blinked before snapping into action, her voice loud and firm as her steady arm shot out to point and in demanding order.

"Luigi – as Princess, I order you to let me get back home, regardless of the cruddy weather and I forbid you to worry about me, or be sad tonight or ever again!!!"

Luigi hesitated as he gazed at her with a lifted eyebrow, as Daisy hard – locked eyes bore into him with a will of reinforced steel.

In the end there was only one gaze still going strong and it wasn't that of Luigi.

He sighed, his shoulders lowering as Daisy swiftly set her crown upon her head, tweaking it to precision upon its peak.

"Daisy..." Luigi began, peering out of the window at the never – ending onslaught of rain and thunder. "It's really not safe to drive around in this kind of weather..."

"You're such a worrywart!" Daisy dismissed with a tiny smile as she flattened out the puckered flaps of material from her dress. "I've been hit by Thunder many times before in a car, I've had Chomper Chains try to tear me limb from limb, and I've passed through walls of raw flame. I'm a big tough girl Luigi – if the rain worried you so much you'll be pleased to hear that I'm quite an adequate swimmer!"

"You'll be careful though wont you?"

"Luigi – I'm driving home in a little rain – I'm not heading off to fight in a war! Take a chill pill!" She smiled fondly towards him as she stepped up to the door.

Luigi grimaced.

He hated that phrase – _'Chill Pill'_ It just sounded really idiotic to him, corny and old, but it was besides the matter at hand as he opened the door, and Daisy caught his arm as he made moves to exit.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"I'm driving you home."

"Awww – Luigi!" Daisy smiled fondly, her cheeks burning as the raging winds of the outdoors brought a sting to them. "You're so sweet! – But no, I can drive myself thanks!" she added curtly, shaking her head.

Luigi opened his mouth to further his "Stubborn Phase" that he seemed to be in the swing of, but once again, he was cut off by the young lady as she steamrollered him with her orders.

"Don't make me use my 'Princess Authority' to get you to stay here and get some sleep Luigi, cos you know I'll win!" she warned firmly. "I never lose arguments, and I'm not gonna lose this one Luigi."

"But..."

"I'll seeya tomorrow," Daisy concluded, leaning in and giving him a quick peck on the cheek as she disappeared outdoors and around the corner to reach the small canopy of trees of which she had left her car, leaving Luigi – hand to cheek standing in the doorway.

He could still feel the contact of her lips on his cheek, although they had not been connected for even a split second the feeling that they had been there was still strong, and he stood dazed for a few long moments, before he leapt outside and around to follow Daisy to be blinded the flash of headlights and he froze, arms over face as Daisy's car came to a halt.

"Luigi – get outta the way!"

He had no choice, the light was practically melting his eyeballs and he couldn't stand it, edging to the side, squinting beneath his protecting hands as Daisy sped passed him with a roar of the engines and a spray of mud that seemed to dodge Luigi rather artfully as he could only gaze after the Princess as she disappeared into the night.

Daisy however, had something on her mind as she drove fast and hard down the road, her eyes searching for the light – the bright fiery light she had seen as she had peered through the window of Luigi's home – the light that came in the direction of the Wario Castle.

It was not a friendly light to be looking at, and was far too strong to be a minor lighting from within.

Her woman's intuition told her: _"Daisy Girl – Something's up down at the Wario's place, and you gotta check it out!"_

Far from thinking that she was prying into their personal business, the thought was far too ominous to ignore as she drove, ignoring the rain, ignoring the feeling as her crown flew from her head and clattered off of the road, ignoring the water as it slapped her face and tore at her hair.

Was she being paranoid?

No – she was certain of it now, she could see it as she bulleted down the long and empty stretch of road in this early hour of day.

It was tall and it was fiery and dangerous.

And it was the Wario Castle.

Daisy slammed on the breaks she drew near and gasped in horror, the fire blazing into her eyes as it raged and tore through the castle, and with no sign of either Wario or Waluigi, fear and terror erupted in her heart like an enraged Tsunami of dread.

The Wario Castle was burning to the Ground.

The Brothers – far too proud to have left their home burning – where obviously still inside.

And it was the lack of reaction, lack of their appearing or of any sign of their escaping attempts that worried her.

Where they trapped?

Where the unconscious??

Where they...?

"WARIO!! WALUIGI!!!" she screamed like a siren as she leapt from her car and onto the ground and was off like the lightning that illuminated the scene before her.

She had to help – she could not leave them in there to burn to death.

Even at the risk of her own life, it wasn't something to be thought twice about.

Daisy was going in, with the raw determination and force in her heart that made her want to believe that she would emerge with both brothers.

But the smell of death was in the air, and it was strong.

But Daisy remained firm, hiding her fear as she tore a strip from her dress and tied it around her mouth to prevent the inhaling of smoke, lifting her hands to protect her face from the heat as she battled her way through the raging oven of an inferno...

* * *

Again, my apologies for the delay and for the fact that the end was seriously rushed. I've got some serious planning and choosing of ideas ahead for this and I've still got my FF7 Novelization to continue with. I've got homework to do, animation's to direct, storyboards to draw, sheesh!

Word of warning to those who want to start College:

True enough that it's way better than school – people and classmates there are actually MATURE people – but you don't get cut ANY slack and if you miss out on ANYTHING, even the merest little scrap of an assignment – your looking at a FAIL!!!!

That's my excuse from now on if my fanfics are late – It's the College's fault! Not mine!!!

Now if you excuse me, it is late, and I'm in need of some sleep.

Chapter 3 will be up soon (I hope!) so stay tuned, and if my tutors are decent enough to allow me more than three hours sleep, I'll make it a good one!


	3. Survivor

I'm sorry there was a long delay in updates, - but a word of warning – by

the look of my college timetable, delay's are something that are gonna be rather common – I'm so sorry! But I cannot afford much distraction at college right now, cos the class isn't doing too great at the moment, and they are promising to flunk some of us out altogether – and I'm taking every precaution to make sure I'm not one of the unlucky ones!

But anyways, I promised to make this a good Chapter, and here's what I came up with.

Hope it suffices to your needs… Personally I think it doesn't, but I had to write this nightmare in order to carry on so…

Apologies again – Here's Chapter three – hoping you enjoy!

* * *

The once wide and grand entrance to the castle was now fogged with thick plumes of smoke, the walls tarred black, scarred with the staining of the thick and smoggy pollution of the entrance hallway as the merging walls of brilliant red on yellow on orange lit up like the flaring sun in it's deadly blaze.

She stared in mute horror as her eyes traveled along the ground floor of this castle, once wide with lavishly decorated fine drapes and art, portraying the likes of Wario and his "greatness", paid with money he had doubtlessly stolen, or cheated to win, a huge and elaborate staircase to lead to the first floor where the bedchambers where, and then there where more staircases that –

_What the hell does it matter as to what it was once like!?_ Daisy scolded herself – appalled at her lack of action and having a short glance around the room for signs of life to find none – the smoke was far too thick - before she turned and ran out of the raging hall of flames and back out into the drowning rivers that poured with the rain, illuminated by flashes of forked lightning.

Mud spattered and sprayed as her shoes slammed into it as she made for her car, spying it upon her exit, the little yellow car the short distance away from her, filling up with rain in its roofless state, delving as she reached it over the door and upon the seats and frantically searching around for her cellphone, her stomach hurting over the doors metal frame – but she didn't care. Far too much was at stake to be worrying about her own discomforts.

Her heart was numb in her chest and it pounded so vigorously within as she became desperate in her search, feeling an impulse to cry as it evaded her sights and fingers.

Finally feeling the solid form of her phone, she snatched it to her face and slammed her fingers into the appropriate three – digit number and pulled it to her ear. Almost instantly was she answered and she gave the person on the other side no time to ask the necessary questions as she instantly screamed the emergency into the phone.

"HELLO!?" she had to shout. She had no choice with the screaming winds and roaring flames and the drumming of thunder in the sky above. "HELLO – THIS IS PRINCESS DAISY, THE WARIO CASTLE IS BURNING, AND I THINK THEY'RE STILL INSIDE!" Her throat grated painfully in her throat with her volume and she was shivering with the cold and rush of the adrenaline that her fear had released into her body.

The operators voice was the bored sounding tone of a female. Her voice had a dull and raspy quality to it and in the background Daisy could here the hubbub of conversation of other operators who where probably dealing with emergencies of their own.

"_Calm down - can you please repeat that?" _judging by the tone of this lady, she really couldn't care less about other people's emergencies but her attitude wasn't something Daisy was concerned about at the given moment.

"THE WARIO CASLTE – IT'S IN FLAMES AND I THINK THE WARIO BROTHERS ARE STILL INSIDE!!" she cried out desperately, struggling to sound coherent with the combination of the terrible conditions around her.

There was an uneasy silence on the line.

"…_Okay…"_ The operator's tone was now sarcastic, and Daisy suddenly jerked as though she had just been slapped as the operator continued to speak. _"Who did you say was calling??"_

Daisy was appalled – WHY was this obvious moron asking who she was – why wasn't she sending out help?? Didn't she realize that the time she was taking could cost lives!?

"MY NAME IS DAISY – HURRY UP AND SEND HELP OIVER HERE!!! YOU KNOW WHERE THE WARIO CASTLE IS, DONT'CHA!?"

"_Did you say Princess Daisy?"_

"What the!?" Daisy stuttered, blinking and pulling the phone away to glance at it for a split second before slamming it back to her ear. "HELP ME!!" she suddenly screamed down the phone, tears of fear and anger filling in her eyes as she tried to milk some assistance from the uncooperative Emergency Operator.

"_Princess Daisy's calling to tell me that she found the Wario Castle burning to the ground…" _the operator gave a smirk that Daisy could vision where she stood. _"If you're Daisy, then I'm Donkey Kong!"_

"WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU!?" Daisy cried out, now sobbing in terror for the fact that the brothers could by dying horrible deaths as they spoke.

"_What's wrong with me, missy, are little prank – calling little tramps like you, so…"_

Daisy had had enough, swiftly interjecting in her sentence and sending down one and promise that Daisy fully intended to make happen if she where to survive the night.

"WHEN I FIND OUT WHO YOU ARE, SO HELP ME YOU WILL REGRET THIS!!" the Princess screamed, throwing down the cellphone into the muddy pools of the ground and trying the rag of dress she had used before, around her head, covering her nose and mouth, deciding that she was going to have to go in and rescue the Wario Brothers herself.

Swallowing the painful lump of fear in her throat, and wiping away the water from her eyes, she deftly took to the castle – once an elaborate death trap for Mario before being made into the magnificent living quarters for the Wario Brothers – only to revert to the flaming pit of deadly fire and smoke.

She shoved the door open once more, pulling back in pain as it burned her palms with a cry.

She glance back up at the heavy wooden boards of door once more, realizing the heat the wood must have been absorbing. Rather than wondering how long it would take before that too erupted into flame, she set a kick for the door, her pointed little shoe protecting the sole of her foot from the paining heat and swinging the entrance blockage open wide and back into the dangerous red inferno.

Almost instantly where her eyes burning with the heat and stinging with the smoke as she positioned the rag of her dress firmly over her lips and nostrils before batting away the clouds of black smoke that billowed around fiercely as she took those first steps inside this literal hell - hole, wondering how the castle could have gone up in such a blaze in the short time between passing it on the journey to Luigi's home and making her way back – she hadn't been long at all, and now it was what Daisy imagine to be walking in to the castle of the Devil himself.

The Wario Castle, burning and flashing its deadly flames like a beacon of death. The heat was terrible, she could already feel the hot slabs beneath her shoes as they baked with the rest of the manor, blackening and encrusting themselves with soot and grit of their burnings.

Her heart pounded as she pressed the ragged piece of cloth to her face despite it being securely tied, looking around desperately for signs of life of which she could rescue. Raw panic pounded with her heart and adrenaline surged through her veins like liquid fire.

Her eyes stung terribly with the smoke and they watered freely as she clenched them shut to open them again only moments later, to be forced to shut them once more.

She coughed – the wet piece of dress wasn't exactly the best piece of equipment to prevent the inhalation of smoke, and the black clouds scoured her lungs violently forcing her body into coughing spasms as huge licks of flame danced around her tauntingly as though laughing at her inability to get her rescue attempt over and done with.

The smoke made her want to vomit as it burned in her windpipe, nipped at her nerves and it's sour and rotten scent poisoned her airways with its foul odor. But she had to force down her discomfort beyond the best of her ability. There was more at stake. Lives – two lives that had to be saved.

"WARIO…" she began another bout of coughing as she cried out his name stepping forward and trying to keep her eyes open enough to look through the blaze for any signs of life. "WALUIGI…??"

It was of no use.

She could barely hear herself over the roar of fire and the crackling of burning furniture and beams of the above ceiling.

If the Wario Brothers where indeed still in here, they would have to be found because it was certainly very unlikely that they would have heard Daisy's call to be guided to it, or if they had, Daisy couldn't hear any replies.

'_Oh guys, please be alright….'_ She prayed internally before inhaling as clear a breath as the smoky surroundings would allow, and held it safe inside of herself. She opened her eyes – they had to be narrowed – but it was the best she could do and even then it was a struggle to keep them open.

She kept her head – if she where to release her panic, she would only wind up in getting herself hurt – or trapped to be killed in the flames. Masking her racing heart was a brave face, and it was staying there until she and the brothers where safe.

She ran in through the smoke, batting it away to the best of her ability with her free hand. She could see through the hazy fogs of black and gray and the blazing flashes of flaming red and orange the blackening statues in Wario's image, the burning banisters of the stairs, the fabled "W" emblems melting from where they hung.

_But where were the Brothers????_

Tears where milked from her eyes by the smoke and heat and coursed down her face in thick rivulets, and they weren't helping matters at all.

She needed help – it was obvious, but who would come? Not the emergency services if that dumb bimbo she had called had anything to do with it!

Her coughing intensified as her held breath gave out, her petite frame jerking violently with each hacked retch she took.

She wanted to scream, she wanted to cry – she hadn't entered the burning building more than two minutes ago and she had only just passed a few feet of the threshold and was already reduced to such a state.

No – she had to do this – she wasn't leaving this house alone.

Forcing her eyes open, she marched stubbornly through the flames and fire and smoke. She had to make for the brothers – they probably wouldn't thank her for this – being rescued by a girl and all, but it didn't matter, not to Daisy.

Setting her sights on the stairs, and glancing around for any immediate hazards that could trap her and finding none (if she where quick) at the current moment, she set off in a sprint, her feet hitting the first of the stairs and her hand placing on the banister for her to cry and snatch it away.

Everything was becoming too hot to touch! How was she going to mange a rescue if she couldn't touch anything!?

Ignoring the banisters, she looked up to the flight of stairs, lifted the skirt of her dress and ran, listening to the drum of her heartbeat and the constant _tap tap tap_ of her shoes on the stairs, holding her breath and dizzied by the adrenaline in her veins but determined, mounting ever higher up the flight of stairs until she was there, upon the hallway of the sleeping chambers, and spotting the ragged and blackened edges of wood around one door in particular, the door, carved with the image of Wario lay smoldering at the side, Wario's face slowly burning away into ash by the banister which was smashed and broken directly before the doors gap.

_What had happened here!?_

"WARIO!?" Daisy called out, plucking up her courage and running out towards the door, having a dreadful gut feeling that she was not going to like what she would see when she looked into this room.

A horrible new smell reached her nostrils and it made her want to vomit, a smell of burning meat and she began feel the bile rising up in the back of her throat.

She came to the door at last and looked in side in the middle of calling out his name again.

"WARI – "

She screamed then, walking backwards rapidly in repulsed shock as tears filled and spilled from her eyes, stumbling and teetering a little over the space of which the banisters once where but managing to maintaining her balance before collapsing to her knees on the corridor floor rather than the tumble back to the ground floor, feeling weak as she vomited violently over the floor, wailing and overcome with such despair and the feeling of sickness as she glanced up once more, tears of horror, fear and of grief spilled down her face as she saw the figure lying prostrate on the ground, steadily being reduced to a horribly burned carcass.

Daisy struggled to control herself, shivering violently, and struggling to breath as she wiped her face free of sweat, tears and vomit with the rag of dress.

There was no question that he was dead – the figure to small and wide to be Waluigi, but his older brother Wario, the room spattered with blackened blood, dried with the heat of the flames, his blackened yellow cap, only singed a few feet from the door. There was no possible way that the bloodied and burned form of a man that lay amidst a spray of flames could have a pulse of life within him, and a wave of sorrow and guilt washed over Daisy as she leaned over on all fours and tentatively picked up the soot – smudged hat and hugged it to her chest, all that could be remembered by of Wario if the fire was to consume him…

Fragments of Bob – Omb lay scattered throughout the room and Daisy knew then for sure that this was none other than a murder and arson.

Kammy or a Copycat.

She remembered suddenly upon what she had come to see on her drive to meet Luigi, that figure in the sky…

…

_Her eyes widened to see the silhouette of a tiny figure on a broomstick fly across the moon, waving a wand maniacally and it twinkled red in the night as they sped through the air and disappeared into the dark once more._

…

Kammy…

Kammy….

Kammy had done this!!

Kammy!!

Just like she had done to Mario…

Why!?

WHY!?!?

It had been Kammy she had seen, flying through the night…

The tiny little Koopa Witch had done this….

… Wario – she had killed him…

She couldn't believe it – Wario… with what motive? What had Wario ever done to Kammy! They had never even met before!

For what possible reason could she have wanted to do something so terrible to a man she had never even met??

It made no sense…

Like a Zombie, Daisy slowly rose to her feet, seemingly forgetful of the danger of the flames around her, the cap held tightly to her chest as she turned, feeling hitching sobs and cough form in her throat and she turned to the banister – or what was left of it, and gripped it through the cap, protecting her hands from the heat whilst she tried to regain herself, her head bent low whilst beads of sweat dripped from her face and her hair hung in sweaty and lank strings.

"_They're dead… aren't they? Both of them…? … What about Waluigi??? … … Waluigi…"_

Daisy turned, head low, and shivering as she lifted the cap and hugged it once more, feeling weak with her discovery of Wario's horrifically burned form, light headed and dizzy as she began to make her way back to the stairs, taking one step at a time, her eyes set on the stairs as she walked, tears leaking down her face and a horrible sick sensation in the pits of her stomach, now and again coming into fits of coughs, almost hard enough to retch at points before she came to the ground floor.

The door was there, beckoning, and part of her just wanted to leave, curl up and cry.

Part of her screamed at her to remember that there was still the life of the younger of the brothers that might still exist to save…

Her head traveled slowly around the room weakly, her eyes full of stinging smoke and tears, sweat that had dripped into them as she aimlessly let her eyes wander, to suddenly jolt back and focus on a movement within the very heart and center of the room.

She could hear a cough, and she could see, rising through the smoke, a tall and skinny figure of a man rise. He had his back to her but she could see the stains of read from the back of his head and the rips and tears of his clothes.

He swayed on his feet for a few moments before falling backwards once again in collapse.

_Oh No!_

Daisy was in sprint once again, forgetting what she had seen of Wario – she now knew where Waluigi was and that he was alive…

She ran, dodging falling chinks of wood, keeping the hat pressed to her chest as she ran, holding her breath and feeling her heartbeat in a buzz behind her ribcage, coming to the area of which she had seen him rise and fall, and she immediately dropped to her knees as she reached, chocking as she inhaled a hurtful lungful of ash.

"Guh!!" she came into a fit of gasping and choking, feeling the burning inside of her chest, clasping at her throat with one hand and holding the other to her chest as though she could delve inside and pick it out – but it was of no use. She coughed and retched for several long moments, fighting and battling to gain control…

She forced herself then, tightening her windpipe within herself and feeling the pull of the coughing spasms grate in her throat before erupting once more.

Despite her difficulties to breathe, it was now obvious that it was in this state she had to get out – failure to do so may very well have resulted in her own death as well as that of Waluigi.

The air was clearer down here nearer the floor, less shrouded in thick black plumes of evil smoke – although still quite acrid and stinging, the fight to keep a clear sight and to avoid chocking was far easier.

Of course – it was a basic rule of surviving a fire was it not? Be sure to stay low to the ground to avoid smoke inhalation – smoke and heat rise to the ceiling, Daisy should have known this from the start, but it couldn't be helped – she had just been so scared of failing in her rescue and even being trapped an burned to death herself – but she was determined.

Turning her attentions as to what it had been that had brought her here, her heart was torn with relief and horror to see the now still figure, clothed in purple and black, clothes horribly burned, the figure less so, but bloody and seemingly unconscious.

He lay on his side after his drop, his back to her, head bent over his narrow shoulders of which two pointed ears where visible to her, and she knew to whom they belonged all too well.

Waluigi.

The motionless form of Waluigi, whom she had not seen at first due to the thick carpet of smoke.

Her throat was dry as she reached out and touched his shoulder, shaking him gently but firmly as though trying to arouse him from a deep sleep. There was no motion to be felt within him when she touched him, and that made Daisy's heart freeze amidst the terrible heat of the hellish flames surrounding.

But where it spelled bad news – it did not mean that there was no hope for him.

Daisy got to her feet, determination flooding through her veins as sweat poured down her figure, leaning down and pulling him onto his back.

Thank God Waluigi wasn't much in the terms of weight!

She wasn't strong enough to lift him still, but he could be dragged and being dragged was all that could be done.

Sliding two hands under the armpits of her prostrate friend, she maneuvered herself towards the door, still coughing madly as she began her pull, dragging his form across the floor.

Looking back over her shoulder to the door, she could hear the distant wail of a siren of what she prayed was help on its way.

She pulled at the motionless Waluigi with all her might, Wario's cap wedged between her right arm and her side as she tugged and dragged the younger brother across the floor as a loud crash and roar sounded as a flaming beam smashed into the ground only a few fee from where the pair struggled and Daisy screamed, shrinking back as the wood spat flames as it hit in it's rapid reduction to charcoal.

Daisy glanced at it, her vision beaming hazy with the stress and the heat, but she doggedly worked on, pulling and tugging towards the door where the rain poured down and the wind screamed and the thunder lit up the sky in its deadly spits of electricity, where the air was cold and full of fresh oxygen…

She was so close now….

So very close…

Until she fell, overcome with the pain of her lungs the tears in her eyes and the terrible heat of the fire.

She could still hear the siren's wail…

And then it stopped.

She could see figures beyond the doorway, and they where getting closer…

Closer….

Daisy could almost feel a smile on her face as she was lifted into the air, a smile amidst her tears as she was placed on a stretcher, hearing voices asking her questions –

"Can you hear me?"

"Is there anyone else inside?"

"Are you in pain?"

She didn't answer, she didn't feel she could…

All she knew was, that she had made it, had been the one to witness what had become of Wario, the only one at that moment who knew that out of the two Wario brothers of which there had been made an attempt to kill – Waluigi was the survivor, living through an attack of Kammy's, he could tell the tale that Luigi could not – now that they where in the same boat if he could pull through from whatever had happened to him…

* * *

Allow me to apologize for the utter piece of crap you have just read: I will do better in future, but this chapter was crap and a pain to write, and I am NOT rewriting it!!

Wario fans – I'm sorry! I love him too! His death was necessary however! Waluigi haters – nah, I'm not apologizing to you guys – I love Waluigi, he's awesome! Oh, there seems to be a rumor spreading on another addition to the Wario family – the Peach equivalent (Oh God… 'Wapeach…XD ) or the baby version of the Wario brothers (this should be funny!) anyone know if this is true? My instincts are telling me this is a load of crap from sad gossipmongers who have nothing better to do than make up rumors – but if there is any proof, let me know!

Anyway, I'm gonna go now, hope ya's had a great Xmas, or Hanukah or (insert your Xmas equivalent here) and are all set for a great 2005!!!

Anyway…

Toodles!

"Signing Off"


	4. Recovery

I'M SORRY! I KNOW IT'S BEEN ALMOST A FULL YEAR! REALLY, REALLY, REALLY, REALLY, REALLY, REALLY, REALLY, REALLY, REALLY, REALLY, SORRY!

And thank you so much for nagging me to hurry it up – I DID read every single one of those comments received and I do appreciate them so, so much!

I'll try so hard to hurry this up, cos I still have big plans for this fic!

But for now, here is the latest extraordinarily late chapter of "In Brotherhood"

So enjoy!

_

* * *

_

_"Luigi –this is Peach and you have to come quickly to the Fungal Hospital, it's urgent! Daisy and Waluigi are here, and we have some bad news!" _

From the outside, the highly regarded Fungal Hospital was a large, clean building – white in color with rows upon rows of windows, letting in the daylight and fresh air when opened, some peppered with "Get Well!" or "New Baby!" cards from the patients who where positioned next to these particular panels. Some bore stained glass paintings of childish images, cute and colorful pictures from the current inhabitants of the Children's Wards.

The Garden's of the Fungal Hospital where well kept and bore beautiful flowers, statues and fountains as well as seats for patients who were able enough to venture out to the gardens to sit and unwind in the outdoors. Swing sets and sand – boxes and other relatively safe play material where provided for the children also.

Inside of this magnificent establishment – (founded by Medical Genius Goombert Shroomston in 1936 for wounded warriors during the times of when the Mushroom Kingdom was at war with the Tomato Empire) the hallways, wards, kitchens – everything was never seen to be anything less than spotlessly clean, every employee was of the best training available and always polite and friendly and always ready to do their job, nothing but the best for any sick or wounded individual who needed care.

Today however – everything was in complete and utter chaos.

Hardly an hour after the word had somehow leaked out of what had happened and of the two famous patients brought in, the people had begun to fill up the lobby as an excited crowd would fill up a concert stadium.

The hospital was swarming with people who had heard of the news, queuing even outside of the entrance doors to find out from the specialized doctors of the conditions of the Princess Daisy and Waluigi – whose current condition was stubbornly kept undisclosed. Was he dead? Dying? Would he be okay after some medical attention?

And where in the hell was Wario?

No - one knew…

Frustrated hospital staff where becoming rather angry at the conditions that the unwelcome crowds where making, creating difficult circumstances for other patients to receive the needed help and for staff to do their job.

But even with the huge crowd of Toads, Goombas, Koopas, Lakitus, Yoshis and Living Bob – Ombs demanding to hear from Daisy personally what had happened, nothing could prevent the camera crew of _Lakitu TV_ buzzing to and fro and begging for the merest scrap of information to release on their show – the news was just too ground – breaking not to be there!

Headlines all over the Mushroom Kingdom were big and bold:

**_ATTACK ON WARIO MANOR! _**

**__**

Another read:

**__**

**_ATTEMPT ON WARIOS! WHO OF HEROES IS NEXT? _**

**__**

And also:

**__**

**_PRINCESS DAISY'S HEROIC RESCUE! _**

It was barely ten o'clock in the morning and already the news had spread like a vicious virus. Only three weeks after the Death of fabled Hero Mario, a vicious arsonist had attacked his famed counterpart…

Luigi's heart was pounding as he tried to force his way through the spotlessly clean lobby of the Fungal Hospital in the clear, rainless morning that had spread out over the Mushroom Kingdom on that day. Only eight hours after Daisy had left his home and she was in hospital?

What had she went and done to herself?

His mouth was dry as he recalled Peach's phone call to him, pushing and shoving through what seemed to be the entire interloping population of the Mushroom Kingdom that where calling his name as he fought to reach the ward number he had been given, not caring whose foot he had trodden on or who he had just knocked over.

He ignored the bombardment of questions that came at him from the _Lakitu TV_ reporters:

"Luigi – do you think that Wario's attack is connected with the murder of your brother?"

"Luigi – rumor has it that you have enlisted the help of Super Ninja – Birdos to take out Kammy! What do you have to say about this?"

"Luigi – is it true that Waluigi is actually a woman and that you are her boyfriend!"

"Luigi – we have reason to believe that Princess Daisy is carrying your baby – what do intend to do now that Kammy has not only killed your brother – but endangered your lover and unborn child?"

The questions got more and more ridiculously unbelievable every time a different reporter opened his or her mouth, and Luigi didn't want to hear any of it.

He just _had _to get to Ward 4C1 – that's where the receptionist had told him to go to after she had called the police to help the hospital shift the troublesome public who only literally filled the hallways and caused so much trouble to those just trying to do their job. And now that was where Luigi was headed, if only he could get out the crush of people that was smothering him, ignoring the yells of "Watch it!" or " Back in line!" and the desperate cries of the Lakitu reporters, desperate to get his words for their television reports.

"Luigi – what do think about…"

"Luigi – is it true that…"

"Luigi – "

"Luigi – "

"Luigi - !"

There was the shrill sound of a whistle blowing behind them (what Luigi presumed was the late - arriving police gaining attention) and a large majority of the current mass – crowding problem turned and Luigi felt resistance slacken around his body and his teeth gritted as he continued to shove until the lesser presses of bodies, slightly breathless, probing a painful rib that he had gained upon someone's intrusion of a particularly sharp elbow on his battle throughout the lobby, looking back over his shoulder amidst the turmoil to see a formidable looking Team of the Shy Guy Police Force – tiny but strong as they belted out orders in their tiny little voices to wrap things up and to kindly leave, lest they be forced to take action.

But the crowd was having none of this, shouting and yelling and Luigi had the breath knocked out of him as a particularly rowdy Pink Bob – Omb leapt up to cry out in protest to be caught under Luigi's ribs as a blue Yoshi accidentally sent the young man falling with a whack of the tail.

The Shy Guy Police Force glared behind their masks and lined themselves up to take action, and the yelling intensified and Luigi felt himself crush with the weight of what seemed like a thousand bodies of curious and angry public wanting to know of what was going on, and the screaming of angry hospital staff and impatient patients waiting to be treated and the buzz of Lakitu reporters buzzing to and fro, chattering questions and writing their own answers until the shrill, but loud feminine call sent everything into a hush.

Luigi grunted as he forced himself into an upright stance, and shoving the blue Yoshio out of his line of sight to see at the mouth of a long corridor of wards, with folds of rather recognizable clothing in her hands over her pink dress, tears in her angry red eyes as she called over for silence, Luigi sighed in relief as he saw her.

The Princess Peach.

Her head was bowed slightly, but her usually sweet and clear blue eyes where red, sore and teary as they glared beneath her blonde hair, her lip trembling with emotion as she cried out (in such a voice of anger never heard before by Luigi):

"That is enough!" there was a definite hard edge in her tones and her teeth where gritted and her face told everyone that she was going to have her way.

The silence after such chaos only moments before was startling and all eyes where on the Princess of the Mushroom Kingdom, and all in mute awe of her presence and power she held over everyone.

She sucked in a trembling breath before she continued in her speaking, her voice quaking with emotion and Luigi's heart numbed in his chest.

Had there been more bad news he had yet to hear?

"The conditions of Princess Daisy and the Warios are NOT for you to gossip of, they are NOT for the Lakitu TV news to broadcast to line their pockets in coins, and I shall not have you here jeopardizing any more lives here with your atrocious behavior!"

Her shallow sob rent the air for a moment and murmured voices amongst the crowd began to bubble amongst the gangs of people in the hospital lobby before the unhappy Princess lifted her tear – soaked face and continued:

"Please – go home, we can't allow you to see them, and I won't allow anyone to prevent the good staff here at the Fungal Hospital from doing their jobs, please…"

"Quite so! Quite so!" came the voice from her Majesty's side and Luigi came to notice the tiny form of Toadsworth at his Princess's side, twitching his moustache irritably and banging his walking stick on the ground. "Come come now! Can't be dawdling around all day now can we? Let's go!" he ordered, marching forward as the crowd began to retreat on Peach's plea, mutters and murmurs on how terrible things where and how they where going to kill Kammy for this and so on and so forth.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaand – Cut!" a triumphant Lakitu Cameraman grinned, pumping one of his little fists and lifting the Camera out of it's viewpoint with the Princesses face as it's user floated from afar. "Great emotion there Princess – great stuff, seeya laters"

And with that, the cocky little Lakitu turned and with a light buzz from his Cloud, he was headed for the doors over the heads of the leaving crowd as the Princess shook her head sadly as she remained where she had stood, hugging the clothes to her chest as her trusty advisor reached a tiny little hand up and touched her arm in comfort.

Luigi blinked, seeing the emotion that she had come to publicly weep made him worry not only for her, but for the well being of Daisy and Waluigi, assuming that one of them had taken a turn for the worst… It made him shudder to think of it as he came to approach the Princess and her consultant in a steady walk, Peach waited for his approach and as he came threw his arms around him in a soft little wail and Luigi could feel her tremble as he returned the hug with the loving passion of a friend.

"Oh, Luigi – it's awful!" she sobbed into his shoulder, quivering with the force of a fresh wave of tears and Luigi's head was buzzing with a thousand thoughts on what could have happened, why it had happened…

There was no more conversation for a few moments after that – just the soft weeping of the sad Princess and the cold, frightened breathing of a young man who knew in his heart that more tears where to be shed…

Because of something else that Kammy had done…

His eyes closed and his teeth grit, feeling his fists tighten behind his friends back as he held the Princess close to him in her grief.

Kammy…

Kammy the Witch Koopa.

Her days where numbered, without a doubt… There was no way in hell that she was getting away with killing Mario, and if one of the many idiotic citizens of the Mushroom Kingdom in their revenge quests for their beloved Hero didn't manage to take her down – she could be as sure as hell that Luigi himself would…

She would pay for what she had done to his Big Brother, for what she had done to him, and for whatever she had done to Daisy and the Wario Brothers…

Words in his mind that where promises rather than threats…

He suddenly felt the weight of the Princess's skull lift from his shoulder and he opened his eyes to see her wipe her sore eyes with a silken - gloved hand.

"Are you okay Princess?" a simultaneous question from the voices of both Luigi and Toadsworth and she gave a small little nod before turning around and heading into the corridor with an indication for Luigi and Toadsworth to follow, and immediately they where there, each on either side of her, and Luigi could not hold the question back any longer.

"Princess what's happened here? Is everyone okay?"

She didn't stop in her walking, but she slowed down and her head lowered considerably, gnawing nervously on her lip and hesitant to talk. Luigi's gaze locked with hers, pleading silently for her to tell him.

He had to know.

She drew in a breath.

"Luigi…"

"Yes?"

"…"

She hesitated once more before coming to a complete and total halt in her walking and swallowing nervously, lifting her hand up to her eye whilst she held the bundle of clothing in the other before coming to speak.

"Daisy is in no danger, a little dehydrated is all, and they want to keep her in for a day or two because of the smoke inhalation. Just to make sure for definates that she'll be fine"

Luigi found himself giving a huge sigh of relief, his numbing heart melting in it's fearful ice casing, relaxing considerably to hear that his friend was okay.

"Waluigi has a minor concussion, one or two fractures of the ribs and was cut by Bob – Omb fragments, nothing that won't heal over time and very, very minor burns, however, they're very concerned about how much smoke he might have inhaled. It may or may not have lasting effects – we don't know yet. He IS out of immediate danger for the time being, though he'll be here for a little while until they know for sure he'll be fine…"

There was a pause after that, and Luigi lowered his eyes with a low sigh and a tightening of the fists.

Everyone who knew Luigi knew him well enough to know that he would have been lying had he said that he actually liked Waluigi – because it was as clear as day that after Mario's funeral, any patience and tolerance Luigi had ever had for his rival had shattered and in it's place was born a hatred almost as ugly as Waluigi's hatred for Luigi himself.

But Luigi never would have wished for Waluigi to be as physically wounded as to the point being hospitalized…

"And what about Wario…?" Luigi came to asking, looking slowly over to watch Peach's face as she bit on her lips, closing her watering eyes, and Luigi felt his body go numb at such a slight but all – telling action as she began to sob.

If Wario where okay – there would be no reason to cry – so why was she crying unless…

"Oh God…" he could barely hear his own whisper, feeling his own eyes water, feeling suddenly nauseated and lifting a hand to his head. "Oh God… oh God, oh my God – Peach? Peach what's wrong with Wario?" Luigi knew in his heart exactly what was wrong with Wario. He didn't want to say it, think it, imagine it – he didn't want to know – but he HAD to know…

Peach looked up at him without words and her blue eyes where so liquid.

"Luigi…" Her voice was as soft and placid as ever as she spoke. "There really is no easy way to say this…"

"Oh no, please don't tell me…" he begged, his eyes beginning to sting as he shook his head, trying to swallow within his dry throat.

Peach exhaled her breath as she hugged the clothing to her chest, barely able at all to look at her close and trusted friend as she prepared to give the news.

"Luigi."

The silence between her words was deafening.

She lifted her eyes up to him and he saw all serious sadness in her fluid blue twin orbs before her lips parted in speech once more, in such a meek little voice that even she herself was dreading to hear again.

"Wario is dead…"

Her whispered words hit him head on, and with such an almighty force, he felt so weightless as he stared her in the face, his expression one of sad, so very sad disbelief, so soon after the death of his own brother…

He tried to speak.

It barely came out a breath.

"H…how?"

Without answering, Peach lifted a hand to her eyes and began to weep and cry pitifully, her shoulders shuddering with the weight of her tears, sobbing and wailing as Luigi let himself lean against the wall of the corridor, still with numb horror and disturbed by Peach's reaction's, just so unable to register such a fact.

Only weeks after his brother – Wario was gone too?

"…oh no….." came his whisper of utter shock, not seeing the tiny form of Toadsworth approaching him, his moustache drooping as he coughed formally and speaking in his most formal tone.

"It has been officially stated by the coroner, that he had died of terrible injuries sustained by many, many Bob – Omb explosions – not the fire of which the Princess Daisy found him." He paused to give a short sigh and missing Luigi's eyebrow twitch before coming back to finish what he was saying.

"They had said that it wouldn't have been long before he had lost consciousness during his attack - would have been in little pain before his demise, and…"

"Daisy found him?" a swift interjection on Luigi's part looking down to the tiny Toadsworth as he blinked up at the green – garbed hero.

"Why yes Master Luigi, didn't you already know?" he inquired with perfect politeness and keeping what was a rather quizzical face safely hidden for the somber occasion beneath his moustache and the hood of his toadstool's cap. "The Princess Daisy came across the body in her attempt to rescue the Warios. Poor, poor Daisy… She's just broken Master Luigi, simply broken over what's happened…."

"Where is she?" Luigi suddenly demanded, shoving himself from the wall and staring down the Princess's advisor, and Toadsworth jumped suddenly, slightly intimidated by Luigi's actions and saved by the Princess coming out of her shell of tears to answer for him.

"We'll take you to her, she's in a private room of her own – 4C1. Waluigi is in 4B3 and he's still unconscious because of the given drugs. They say he should be awake rather shortly…"

"They said that around two hours ago…" Toadsworth muttered with a couple of irritated taps on the floor with his walking stick before coming back with yet another sad sigh, shaking his head slowly. "Still... I wouldn't want to wake him up either if I where to be the one to tell him what's happened and what's become of his brother."

"You mean he doesn't know?"

"He hasn't been conscious for anyone to tell him." Peach murmured softly, hugging at the clothes in her arms that Luigi suddenly recognized to be the trademark clothes of the Hospital's two most famous patients lined in some places with fresh stitching which Luigi took to be the produce of Peach's Motherly Housewife side. It was common knowledge that the Princess enjoyed baking and sewing, and Luigi only assumed that in her wait for her friends to be treated she had took to repairing their damaged clothes.

In her arm she held two sets of clothing for her three friends…

And one of them – one that he didn't particularly like - was going to be told that his older Brother had been murdered, and Luigi could remember all too well what he had felt when Mario hadn't come home, when Mario was missing for days, and when he was told why after so much worry…

Luigi closed his eyes, blinking away the tears, so painfully able to contemplate the agony that was in store for Waluigi, having experienced it first hand…

And Daisy… What had she seen? What had she been through?

He had to know, had to see her.

"Daisy – where did you say her room was?" Luigi demanded, lifting his arm to wipe the tears from his liquid eyes. They still stung horribly and he had been nauseated since hearing the terrible news of Wario's death… But he couldn't wallow in his own misery, not when Daisy was so distraught (if Toadsworth's telling of her emotional state was indeed accurate) and needed him.

He just wanted to see her so badly…

"Of course Master Luigi," the little Mushroomed figure nodded, hopping around on his tiny little feet and toddling off down the corridor with smart little taps. "Come along now, come along now…" he kept muttering to himself as he walked, his volume lowering and lowering until it could no longer be heard by either of the humans.

Luigi knew not for how long they walked, how many stairs they had mounted or how many staff at the hospital had stopped to stare as they made their way through the Hospital.

And nor did he care.

His heartbeat was in his ears, his stomach clenching within him, his mind in a spin and all that he could see was Daisy driving off into the distance the night previous when he had let her go alone, when he had stupidly bowed her "Authority" and allowed her to walk over him straight into the dangers grasp.

He knew that if anything had resulted in Daisy's experiences last night he would never forgive himself…

What if she had been poisoned by the smoke? What if it would prove terminal? What if …

"Luigi?"

The plumber blinked, turning to the face of the Princess at his side, interrupted in his personal hell of fears for Daisy, and the walking came to a halt marked by a tiny thud of Toadsworth's walking stick – a tiny crack of wood on polished floor that sent a slight tremor of Echo rippling through the hallways.

"I do believe Master Luigi…" the little Mushroom began steadily and indicated to the door of which he stood before. "That we have indeed reached our destination! 4C1!"

And Luigi pivoted from the Princess to meet the heavy – looking door with a tiny metallic plate that read in engraved figures "4C1"

And then there was Princess Peach's voice behind him.

"Princess Daisy is in here, and I know she'll want to see you," she said kindly taking Luigi by the shoulders as he glanced back at her as though silently asking how indeed she would no such a thing, and whether through a Woman's Intuition, or Luigi's own transparency, Peach gave him a sad smile and answered his unasked question. "After all, the both of you have always had a special bond of sorts, haven't you?"

Luigi was speechless and could only blink at her words and know that they held some definite truths within them.

And he said nothing – was silent as his hand turned the doorknob and he stepped inside alone – alone as he went to face head on the traumatized and broken heart of a dear friend.

* * *

Again, many zillion apologies for the delay, but I will try my damndest not to do it again! I hope you enjoyed this somewhat less exciting chapter – Thanks again for all of your comments and support – it really does make my day to be dying of boredom in college and seeing people telling me to hurry up and update 

Thanks guys!

And Peace out – hope you all have a ROCKIN X-mass / Hanukkah, etc, and a totally AWESOME new year!


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